Nonetheless, this blog post is not to dwell on the sad part, but to celebrate the happy bits of my 2015. So here it goes: it's 2015 Rewhine - Second Half.

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We had the wonderful idea of making Molten Matcha Cake that day. And despite the usual distractions of FIFA and lazing in the living room, we did manage to make something before the sun set. And the result was spectacular for a first try.

I wanted to decorate it but there were no other fruits so a green grape was something we had to settle with.

Oh, and did I mention, Esmonde spammed like 20 selfies of himself on my phone? Yep.

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Another teamYOLO outing. So apparently, they went to Swee Choon dimsum without me as I was ill in the afternoon and only joined them after dinner. So Jianming, smartly dressed up in his Inspector book-out attire, treated us to kopi at Farrer Park. Another talk cock session with no agenda is what I enjoy the most about this group of people - we can just come out and there will always be an eventual plan.

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Virgin Fatboys experience at Upper Thomson with my medic coursemates during a nights out. Don't even ask me why I wore that white shirt to book-in; my wardrobe was running thin at that moment. Anyway, their Bleur Cheese burger is amazing.

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Pink Dot was one hell of an experience. It was an amazing eye-opener, and I saw the side that many Singaporeans don't usually see. I witnessed LGBT people being so happy and carefree, because they feel belonged. And I felt that it was such a shame they only feel so carefree once a year. And although I am as straight as a ruler, I still support this cause because I believe everyone has the right to love whoever they want to.

The event was dramatic, with a lot of lights and high-octane type of performances accompanied at the end by heartfelt confessions and many people sharing their torchlights at the end.

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This was a solo thing, but I felt the obligation to share. So here it is: my first successful churros attempt. I tried this once before this day, but failed because the oil overheated and I got black strips of flour. This attempt, though, made me so satisfied. Churros are absolutely unhealthy but also bring about maximum enjoyment. If you haven't tried the angmoh youtiaos, you should.

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We wanted to explore a haunted area in Orchard, but because we could not gain access to that, we had to go to somewhere along Tanglin to pose against an overly-cliche graffiti wall. I was the most awkward, because I really am not great at posing, so I just looked clueless most of the time.

It was nevertheless highly entertaining being judged by pedestrians passing by, watching us jump on the wall and attempting to look like Vogue models.

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Woke up at 5:30am, reached Marina Bay at 6:45am and was greeted with one of the darkest day clouds I have ever seen in my 19 years of existence. The rain threatened to cancel the entire passing-out parade for a few of my close buddies, but eventually, after being held back for about 2.5 hours, the parade commenced and we managed to get going.

As part of the audience, I felt so ashamed that I did the same parade 3 months before this. Having to shout the drill timing and looking at all the small misalignment in the contingent made me realise why they pushed us so hard during rehearsals. We looked like rookies, and even though we were "newly trained soldiers", I thought the parade was pretty lame, kiddish, and lacked that gung-ho and gusto.

On the same day, somehow a group formed out of the class and we met for some pool.  Yes, I'm forever wearing that same shirt for some reason.

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We were so close to a full squad that day; nonetheless, there was Korean BBQ and Milkcow aplenty. Thanks to Qinying, we got a treat or two at Milkcow because she previously worked there.

See, that's why you have friends: to get free stuff.

Jokes aside, it was a very good night with a lot of good food and more cock-talking. I cannot stress how much rubbish the boys talk. I don't even know how the ladies can tolerate us if I'm honest.

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Max house, max pleasure.

No seriously though, Max's house is spectacular. It's a condo, but the buildings are arranged in a progressive way such that the building behind is 2-3 storeys taller. He lived in the first building at the top, so we had the rooftop to ourselves. Barbeque, picturesque sunset and company of people who actually understand the stupid medical terms you say.

Oh, and I actually bothered to style my hair.

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Bro and I saw an otter at Punggol Waterway in one of our very rare bro-bonding sessions. The otter attracted a very large crowd of curious park-goers, because it was doing a backstroke swim on land for cute reasons.

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Arnold's birthday was celebrated at Botanic Gardens, and even though the other gentlemen couldn't make it, we still managed to squeeze something out despite having waited over an hour for a certain lady whose name begins with the last letter of the alphabet.

Pretty landscapes and not-so-pretty food made up the day.

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Barbeque and it was a shame we didn't count down to SG50 National Day together. Still, it's better than nothing, although I still rue my decision then to wear a shirt for a barbeque and not a t-shirt.

Oh, I remember us cooking up an actual storm. The firepit actually caught fire at least 10 times that night, and as a result, the chicken wings had a tinge of charcoal taste. It was good though. Could've been worse. Someone could've dialed 995 for all we knew.

I love wrecking things with this bunch.

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Finally we managed to gather the entire squad - not an easy feat, mind you.

We went over to my place to celebrate Chong's birthday, much to his surprise. Yes, for once, we did actually carried out a successful surprise within ourselves.

The only unsuccessful part was the pre-photoshoot instructions. Apparently looking serious didn't exactly translate to the ladies.

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We had a karaoke session at Toa Payoh, before dropping by a local coffee shop for some amazing tzi-char. Unfortunately, the surprise for Esmonde didn't work out that well, mainly because it was pretty damn obvious we were celebrating his 19th year of living.

I also like how we took a photo using my selfie stick (again) at a traffic junction.

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Final trip with the Energio gentlemen before Jia Wei and I went over to Brunei for 3.5 weeks. It was bittersweet, and we struggled to find the Swensen's that we did not know closed down at Bugis Junction.

So after about 1.5 hours of searching for food, we settled for Mookata and it was probably the best pre-overseas meal I had.

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I swear, the withdrawal for the Brunei trip was so strong for me. I was in denial, I was so depressed. But nothing could've changed the fact that I had to go over. Mercifully, the company was great, and that 3.5 weeks spent there was alright, even though I fully knew my time would have been utilised a lot better than just sitting around and waiting for accidents to happen (because that is the job of a medic).

September was probably the toughest part of the year, because I wasted so much time in Brunei and I longed to return home as soon as possible. It was not tiring, and it was not stressful. It was just plain boring. And being away from the people that matter to me did not help matters.

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So somehow John and Elston managed to be at the airport at an ungodly 4am to welcome us back. And even though I was in a rush because of my parents' persistence to leave for some reason, we managed to snap a quick photo and I am so thankful for them. Nobody else would come at this hour to welcome us back, and I thought it was an apt surprise for Jia Wei, because he was the one who went through all the shit Brunei had flung at him.

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It was an off day for me, so Nathaniel, Ryan and I met up for one last time before Ryan flew over to Thailand for 6 straight months.

I was introduced to Maki-san, and since then, I've always wanted to go there again. It's like Subway, but sushi-style.

We then went to Lady M, and I could sum it up in a short sentence: long queue, average cakes. It was overpriced, and now I know where not to bring my friends to next time.

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JEYS started the treating system: each one of us will treat the other 3 to a decent meal. So the first to do so was Chong, and we had a scrumptious lunch at Ichiban Boshi. And even though my brother did work there before, I couldn't get a staff discount.

I still think Ichiban Boshi is one of the most value-for-money places to eat. For just under $20, you can get a full tray of food as shown in the picture. A main dish, a side, some fruits, a soup and an appetiser. What more can you ask for?

Dinnertime was up and mEnergio (men-Energio, because Cassie wasn't around) gathered at Dhoby Ghaut for some Swensens. Jia Wei and I rambled on and on about the terrain and weather of Brunei, and it was always going to be an easy time to have fun with these people.

I have no idea why we have an obsession of opening our mouths when we take pictures, though.

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We became great friends in Brunei, which was rather unlikely given we did not have much chemistry at the start. But after constantly poking fun of each other, I think we kinda appreciated the banter and the next thing, we were at Queensway shopping for my running shoes. And despite having spent close to 3 hours walking around, I did not buy any shoes. Till this very day, I feel guilty not having bought any shoes because a week later, I went back to buy the Nike Free 5.0 that we already eyed on that day.

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We finally met up again, and it was again at Max's house. For some reason, his Housewarming party was only conducted 3 months after we crashed his by-then completely-furnished house. Perhaps it was to coincide with his birthday, or perhaps it was fate. Either way, the lads had fun, and I loved how we could talk about the exact same things without being bored.

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First Coney Island visit, and no, it was not with my bae because in my world there were no baes in 2015.

Went there with my parents, and even though it was an entirely rushed trip as dinnertime was drawing near, we still managed to catch a glimpse of the island and understand the hype. I couldn't really get the hype over this place, though. Maybe a slower-paced visit would help next time.

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We went car-shopping at Ubi, and I caught a snapshot of what would have eventually been our new daily transporter. We initially didn't decide on this car, mainly because we wanted to go see elsewhere before deciding. However, after about a week, we returned to this car mainly because: 1. it had a sunroof and Dad and Mum loved that and 2. our old car was breaking down.

So the deal was sealed, and we drove away the car 3 days after the contract was penned. Voala.

That night, Elston and I went to USS for Halloween Horror Nights because he won free tickets from SingTel.

Everything that could have went wrong did. The queue to the scare houses exceeded 4 hours, and we (or mostly I) ran out of patience to wait. I bemoaned the fact that the weather was hot, the queue was long and the entire place was filled with the stench of human sweat.

We left before the last train departed HarbourFront after just 2 small roller-coaster rides and spending $3.50 on a 500ml Pokka Green Tea.

Halloween Horror Nights is horrible. Don't even think I'll ever go back again. Waste of money, waste of time.

The company was amazing though. Elston taught me to play a few idiotic games on his smartphone. Yeah that was about the most entertaining part of the day really.

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Dr Jon was ORD-ing (or exiting National Service because his 22 months term is up, just for all who don't understand the jargon), so we had an ORD paintball excursion at remote Turf City.

And no Mus, wearing the medic armband did not subject him to the Geneva Convention and he still took bullets.

I got shot in the middle finger and unfortunately the face shot did not kill me because I wore a helmet.

To all my haters: unlucky mate.

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Rare atas dinner with the family because normally we just love being simple. We celebrated Dad's birthday in advance at Hansik Korean Restaurant at Kovan, a restaurant opened by my Mum's customer. The food is amazing, and I don't know whether it is authentic, but they are so generous with their appetisers.

To my future bae, you're coming here with me.

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After 1 entire week of rotting in Pulau Tekong to cover for some exercise, I came out looking forward to meeting these 2 ladies that I had missed so much.

Lunch was with Jamie, and we were supposed to eat at Itacho, only for a long queue to form and we scrapped the idea and ate at Menya Musashi instead (no, I did not eat 3x upsize this time). Food was good, company was even better; she goes on with her usual rants and I was just being hungry as usual.

Dinner was with mel, and I cannot describe to you how long we haven't met since that day. It was pretty clear indication we still had the same che-mel-stry and tele-pie-thic skills. So yeah, we clicked off very well as always and it was a very nice and short night walk so that we could digest the amount of food we had at Chomp Chomp.

And as always, for some reason, our meet-ups will always involve one of us giving the other a card. It's just how we communicate, you know?

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Gerald was back from Taiwan, and so we went to eat Maki-san (cos of me and thanks to Ryan) and then sang karaoke again. I've been singing so much this year. And I love it, as much as my vocals and nasal issues disagree.

我要开演唱会。

Shortly after, we had a farewell dinner for Chong, who was flying to Brunei that night. Yep, that was how short a window we had. We braved the torrential rain at Tai Seng and eventually had Mookata for less than $20 per pax. And it was surprisingly good too.

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Energio finally regrouped for a jamming session at unlikely Bishan, in a place that was supposed to be a music school for little children. Throughout the night, we learnt a lot about working as a proper band with the help of a professional teacher. We learnt harmonisation, and I was so happy that we were actually making solid progress, even if it was a tat short-lived because we haven't squeezed the time to jam since then.

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If there's one place I will not bring my future bae to, it'll be this: Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bae (what? Spelling error meh?)

The overcrowded area, spoiled light panel, wobbly steel bridge and 40-minutes squeeze to exit the garden was only made better by the always-amazing company. I like how we came to a common consensus that this place was overrated, and went to an unsightly tunnel to take step photographs instead (if you follow my Instagram you'll see what I mean).

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Finally, the Bangkok trip was ACTUALLY happening. It was surreal to travel overseas with friends that I haven't met for quite some time, but we still went for it anyway, anticipating the amount of shopping we would eventually carry out in BKK.

The trip was very last minute, but I'm so happy it happened and I was given a chance to be part of this group. Shows that I'm not as unpopular as I think. Or maybe it's out of sympathy for me.

Either way, I'm not going to spam photographs and talk about the trip, so here are 2 videos (1 more coming up next year) of the trip I made.

The biggest takeaway from the trip for me was how fun and easy things can be when you're with friends and friends only. You have no itinerary, and the objectives are simple. It's been 11 days since the trip ended and I'm still very much missing it, because of the company and the amount of things I forced myself to buy.

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I cannot stress how impromptu this entire thing was. First it was on 28th; then it became 27th, and then somehow it ended up being on the 30th instead.

We (reluctantly) played pool at Dhoby Ghaut after realising that without any plans, there was simply nothing else to do in the city. So being rookies and all, we messed up quite bad. But that's just how we work. I really miss these people, and I wished more OG19 people would have came. It reminds me of one of the best parts of my J2 life, making friends with people and giving me opportunities to know others outside of my own batch and age.

Oh, and did I mention Li Ann and I teamed up and won Wen Shan and Colin at the grand-finale round? It was probably one of the most epic games of pool I've ever played.

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This was a screenshot from a video because we actually didn't take a photo, which explains the weird blank spaces at the top and bottom.

But yes, it was again impromptu. I was about to go home after eating lunch at Hougang Mall, and then mel said she was coming over. So we somehow ended up queueing about 10 minutes just to buy 5 bottles of Yakult. We talked, and reflected on our year. It was awesome just chilling and sitting down with someone you hold so close to your heart, and we could have gone on till sunset had it not been for me having to go home. Nonetheless, in the pouring rain, we chit-chatted, threw Yakult bottles into the rubbish bin and somehow I ended the day owing her 3 tubes of Wasabi Chips.

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I was wanting to write a final summary and long reflection of what I've learnt in 2015, but I think I'll write that next year because I really want to catch the countdown celebrations on TV right now.

So yes, call me half-hearted, but here it is. Thank you for making my year, folks. I love all of you.

Song of the day:
Justin Bieber - Love Yourself
(Oh dear! Pie posted 2 Bieber songs in a row! The world is ending.)